UN experts want to blacklist 14 ships over N. Korea sanctions

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — UN experts have recommended blacklisting 14 vessels for violating sanctions against North Korea in a report that accuses the country of increasing illegal coal exports, imports of petroleum products and continuing with cyber attacks on financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to gain illicit revenue. The 267-page report, obtained Saturday by The Associated Press, also accused North Korea of importing luxury vehicles, watches and liquor and other sanctione

World NewsApril 19, 2020

Coronavirus could erode global fight against other diseases

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Lavina D’Souza hasn’t been able to collect her government-supplied anti-HIV medication since the abrupt lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people last month during the coronavirus outbreak. Marooned in a small city away from her home in Mumbai, the medicine she needs to manage her disease has run out. The 43-year-old is afraid that her immune system will crash: "Any disease, the coronavirus or something else, I’ll fall sick faster." D’Sou

World NewsApril 16, 2020

Trump directs halt to payments to WHO during virus pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was cutting off US payments to the World Health Organization during the coronavirus pandemic, accusing the organization of failing to do enough to stop the virus from spreading when it first surfaced in China. Trump, who had telegraphed his intentions last week, claimed the outbreak could have been contained at its source and that lives could have been saved had the UN health agency done a better job investigating the early reports

World NewsApril 15, 2020

Health officials warn NYC could run out of virus test swabs

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City is in danger of running out of swabs for COVID-19 tests and should only test hospitalized patients, the city health department said in a memo to health care providers over the weekend. 　"As the swab supply continues to decline, there is a real possibility hospitals will completely run out," the April 11 health alert said. "At this time, providers are reminded to only test hospitalized patients in order to preserve resources that are needed to diagn

World NewsApril 13, 2020

Health or wealth? Nations pressured to loosen virus rules

MADRID (AP) -- As the coronavirus pandemic throws millions out of work and devastates economies worldwide, governments are struggling with the delicate balance between keeping people safe from a highly contagious virus and making sure they can still make a living or even have enough to eat. Workers in some nonessential industries were returning to their jobs Monday in Spain, one of the hardest hit countries in the coronavirus pandemic, while in South Korea, officials were warning that hard-ea

World NewsApril 13, 2020

SoftBank Group forecasts $7b full-year net loss

TOKYO (AFP) -- Struggling Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group on Monday forecast a $7-billion net loss for the year ended March due to the negative impact of coronavirus and losses related to WeWork. The telecoms and investment giant, led by flamboyant entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, also said in a surprise press release it expected to suffer an operating loss of 1.35 trillion yen or $12.5 billion. The firm cited a 1.8-trillion yen loss at its SoftBank Vision Fund, blaming “the deteriorati

World BusinessApril 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] Bill Gates calls for funding from G-20 members to develop vaccine against coronavirus

In order for the world to better contain the spread of the coronavirus, leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies should provide more funding to develop a vaccine, Bill Gates said. In an opinion piece provided in South Korea exclusively to Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, noted that COVID-19 has not yet affected many low- and middle-income countries, and said world leaders, particularly G-20 members, must step up to keep it that way because it is "like

World NewsApril 12, 2020

Why African Americans are dying at higher rates from COVID-19

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- The new coronavirus isn’t biased about whom it infects -- so why does data emerging from some states suggest that African Americans are bearing the brunt of the pandemic in the US? Experts say blacks are disproportionately impacted by underlying health conditions linked to poverty, face discrimination in medical care, and are more likely to work jobs that require them to leave their homes. “We know that blacks are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, lu

World NewsApril 8, 2020

UK’s Johnson spends night in ICU; not on ventilator

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent the night in the intensive care unit of a London hospital with the new coronavirus, but is not on a ventilator, a senior government minister said Tuesday, as pressure grew on the government to release more details of Johnson’s condition. Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas’ Hospital late Sunday, 10 days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, the first major world leader to be confirmed to have the virus. He was moved to t

World NewsApril 7, 2020

Virus puts UK PM in intensive care; Japan declares emergency

London (AP) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was in intensive care Tuesday fighting the coronavirus, while across the world, Japan’s leader declared a monthlong state of emergency for Tokyo and six other regions to keep the virus from ravaging the world’s oldest population. The 55-year-old Johnson, the world’s first known head of government to fall ill with the virus, was conscious in a London hospital and needed oxygen but was not on a ventilator, Cabinet minister Mic

World NewsApril 7, 2020

Global coronavirus death toll tops 70,000

PARIS (AFP) -- The new coronavirus has killed more than 70,000 people across the globe, the majority in Europe, according to an AFP tally Monday at 1100 GMT. Out of a total of 70,009 killed in the pandemic, 50,215 are in Europe, according to figures compiled from official government data and the World Health Organization.   Italy is leading the global death toll with 15,877 fatalities, followed by Spain with 13,055, the United States with 9,648 and France with 8,078. (AFP)  

World NewsApril 6, 2020

France asks South Korea to share knowhow from fight against coronavirus

France asked South Korea on Monday to share its knowhow related to containing the novel coronavirus, Seoul's transport ministry said, as both countries are striving to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease. French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari made the request during a phone conversation with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Hyun-mee, and the two sides agreed to maintain active communication in their fight against COVID-19, according to Kim's office. The French minis

World NewsApril 6, 2020

WHO chief requests Moon's role in global fight against coronavirus

The head of the United Nations health agency on Monday asked South Korean President Moon Jae-in to come to the fore in the global war against the coronavirus so that other countries can follow in his country's footsteps, Cheong Wa Dae said. Speaking on the phone with Moon, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), said South Korea's "comprehensive strategy," involving aggressive testing, diagnosis and tracing, is working effectively. He req

World NewsApril 6, 2020

Global coronavirus cases top 1 million as pandemic spreads

PARIS (AFP) -- The number of officially reported coronavirus cases worldwide topped the one million mark on Thursday, signifying a sharp acceleration in the number of infections and deaths over the past few weeks as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads exponentially. What do the latest figures tell us? At least 1,000,036 infections have been reported worldwide and 51,178 deaths, according to an AFP tally on Thursday at 1900 GMT. In the past seven days, as many new cases have been diagnosed

World NewsApril 3, 2020

Pakistan overturns Briton's death sentence in Daniel Pearl murder

A Pakistani court on Thursday overturned the death sentence for British-born militant Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted 18 years ago in the kidnapping and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Pearl's brutal murder sparked revulsion and an international outcry in early 2002, putting pressure on Pakistan's military government just as it was trying to remake its image following years of backing for the hardline Islamist Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. Omar Sheikh's lawyer

World NewsApril 2, 2020

Trump casts doubt on Chinese coronavirus figures

President Donald Trump cast doubt on the accuracy of official Chinese figures on its coronavirus outbreak after US lawmakers, citing an intelligence report, accused Beijing of a cover up. "How do we know" if they are accurate, Trump asked at a press conference. "Their numbers seem to be a little bit on the light side." Trump insisted that "the relationship with China's a good one" and that he remained close to President Xi Jinping. However, controversy around Bei

World NewsApril 2, 2020

[Graphic News] COVID-19 increases mobile app use in Feb.

　People in South Korea spent more time using applications on their mobile devices last month, data showed, amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. 　Koreans spent an average of 3.9 hours a day on mobile apps in February, up 7 percent from a year ago, according to global mobile data analytics firm App Annie. 　Korea was the No. 2 country in the world in terms of the average time that people spent on mobile apps. China topped the list with five hours, while Japan was No. 3 with 3.5 hours.

World NewsApril 1, 2020

CNN reporter Cuomo, brother of NY governor, has coronavirus

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- Ethiopia's election commission announced Tuesday that general elections due in August would be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, in a setback for the country's fragile democratic transition. "Because of issues related to the coronavirus, the board has decided it can't conduct the election as planned according to the calendar it announced, so it has decided to void that calendar and suspend all activities," it said in a statement. (AFP)

World NewsApril 1, 2020

Popular Japanese comedian dies from the coronavirus

TOKYO (AP) -- Popular Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, who drew inspiration from the American comedic icon Jerry Lewis, has died from the coronavirus, becoming Japan's first known celebrity victim of the disease. He was 70. Shimura, who attracted fans of all generations with his slapstick comedy and funny faces, had been treated at a Tokyo hospital and died on Sunday, according to his agency, Izawa Office. He was diagnosed with pneumonia after contracting the coronavirus. He was hospitalized on

World NewsMarch 30, 2020

[Newsmaker] Germany bets on S. Korean model in virus fightback

BERLIN (AFP) -- In the race against the coronavirus, Germany is betting on widespread testing and quarantining to break the infection chain, a strategy borrowed from South Korea whose success in slowing the outbreak has become the envy of the world. Germany is already carrying out more coronavirus tests than any other European country at a rate of 300,000 to 500,000 a week, according to officials. But Chancellor Angela Merkel's government aims to ramp that up to at least 200,000 tests a day,

WorldMarch 30, 2020